All posts from the ‘Firsts’ Category

Priorians travelled to Ballyclare to round off the first half of their return to senior one. They had an unexpected week off last Saturday due to a frozen pitch at Lisnagarvey. The game proved to be a story of two halves. The first half was dominated by the Home side, with Ballyclare attacking hard and winning Penalty corners. They picked up on poor passing from the visitors and a counter attack followed, they entered the circle and took a shot on goal. Priorians goal keeper made an excellent save but the ball unfortunately proceeded to touch a prior foot awarding Ballyclare a penalty corner. They scored, and a second goal in the same half for the Home side came from another penalty corner where two Priorians defenders were sent back to half way line due to breaking the line. Following this Priorians tried to hold procession using the far right. Rachael, Rhonda and Grace from Priorians made efforts to penetrate the circle. The Ballyclare goalkeeper moved early leaving the goal open for Grace Hand to sweep in. End to end play then ensued and Ballyclare made one last counter before half time resulting in a player pile up at the goal mouth despite the first shot being saved agin by Lizzie Ballentine a goal was awarded leaving the score 3-1 at half time to Ballyclare.
The second half started poorly with Priorians ladies not focusing enough to keep procession long enough to attack the opposition’s half. Following this period the visitors stepped it up with superb linking play and switching the ball across the pitch. Priorians scored twice from penalty corners in second half with Jill Kennedy’s strike disallowed as a Priorians player entering the circle too early. The girls were allowed a second attempt and Nicola Lowry made sure to slot the ball home to confirm 3-2. The final 20 minutes brought Ballyclare back into some attacking play but Priorians players Alice, Coral and Rachael were determined in channelling and tackling expertly to keep Priorians fighting to the final whistle. Final score 3-2. O’Neill Bros Master Joiners, sponsors of the Priorians season, would like to wish the girls Good luck for their final match of 2017 against Raphoe on Saturday 16th December.

Priorians were on their travels again on Saturday as they took on Knock at Strathern School pitches.
Priorians were missing many players from both squads which meant both first and second teams were without substitutes. However the girls and their coach felt confident that match fitness would not be a factor due to intense weekly sessions with fitness coach, Kyle McSparron.
Knock took the pass back but it wasn’t long before Priorians began trying to attack. The pitch is a very different playing surface from the one at St. Columb’s Park. The surface allows for a faster paced game which suits Priorians and they played a smart game, looking for a space or creating ‘two on ones’.
This creation of passes meant they penetrated the circle easily. Ellie Goodman confidently found Jill Kennedy who slotted it past the goalkeeper.
There were shouts from the homeside’s coach to dispute the goal but both umpires awarded the goal and play continued.
Knock players were quick on the attack following the reset. They used triangular passing effectively and found skilful players who tried to shimmy past the Prior defence. Rhonda Curry and Nicola Lowry were extremely strong and the Knock forwards – not being able to get a shot on target – tried to find ways to get a penalty corner. They were rewarded. They pushed the ball out to the left player throwing Prior’s first runner a little who had to change her run. The deception was not as fruitful for Knock as expected leaving the score at 1-0.Priorians were not content with only one goal and went on the attack again but then the opposition’s centre back was well positioned to read the Priorians play around the circle.
The midfield and forwards changed tactics and ended up a penalty corner. A strong push out from Nicola Lowry missed the stopper but found back-up Ellie Goodman who gave the ball into the circle for another shot on goal by Jill Kennedy and she made no mistake, hammering past the keeper.
Again the homeside disputed the goal but again after some deliberation with umpires, the goal was awarded for a 2-0 interval lead at half-time.
In the second half, Prior had to deal with a very high press from Knock meaning getting the ball into the midfield was proving difficult. Knock had many more chances in the second half. Nicola Lowry even saved a shot off the line, keeping the away side’s clean sheet in the Senior One League.
Knock were awarded another penalty corner but despite quickly taking their straight strike they could not get past the Priorians keeper.
Priorians had to deal with a lot more pressure in the second half. They tried to use aerial passes to get around the high press and well placed defenders. Their efforts were not rewarded this time but they had done enough to take the win.

Priorians seconds travelled to Dungannon for a cup game. The score was 0-0 even afer extra time which meant for the first time, tthe North West Club had to do the highly entertaining penalty runs.
A player has eight seconds to score past the opposition’[s keeper, running from outside the circle. Priorians young keeper, Alex Doherty, showed skill in saving numerous penalty runs. This gave Priorians seconds the confidence to take the lead and move onto the next round of the cup.
O’Neill Master Joiners, Club Sponsors, would like a big turnout for the next game at home on Saturday 4th November at Foyle Arena. Priorians first play Omagh Firsts at 2.30pm.

AWAY DAY JOY FOR PRIORIANS
Priorians travelled to Belfast to play Victorians at Queens on Saturday and came away with an inspiring victory.
The two teams had met two weeks previous in a cup game where Victorians were the victors, winning 2-1. Since then, Priorians had been training hard and came out determined to show their improvement.
The home side took the pass back but Priorians were quick to intercept. Jill Kennedy carried the ball and calmly passed the ball into the circle where Emma Allen picked it up and with one touch, slapped it into the net. Victorians were left in shock at the speed of the counter attack. After the restart, both teams were focused and implemented positive linking play to penetrate the circle. Victorians fought hard and won penalty corners. The Prior defence handled the pressure well and passed the ball out to midfield. The home side appeared a little frustrated at being denied any shots on goal and as a result Victorians had a player green carded for an overly physical tackle. End to end hockey ensued until the half time whistle.
Priorians 1 Victorians 0 at half time.
Prior took the pass back for the second half. They made great use of passing the ball around the back and changing the side.
Victorians began to mark out the back options putting a hard press on Prior’s centre back. Prior then suffered a green card also for not moving 5 yards at frees, with Captain Kristel Brown taking two minutes at the sideline.
The away side did not let this diminish their resolve to remain in the lead. They tried to break down the opposition’s play and clear the ball wide. Again Victorians won penalty corners from counter attacks and Prior appeared on the back foot trying to get back to defend the D. The Prior goalkeeper and sweeper Coral Lapsley made excellent saves and when Victorians missed the ball on the back line the Prior forwards took their chance to collect the ball and make a charge for goal but unfortunately they couldn’t get a shot on target. Rachael McSparron intercepted the ball in the centre of the pitch and it was picked up by Sarah Black who made a small arc at the 23m line. She passed the ball into the circle where Emma Allen picked it up and took her shot at the far post. A goal was awarded for Priorians despite protests from the home side.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Priorians were under a lot of pressure from a determined Victorians side. They became frustrated with the umpires which resulted in a second green card for the home side’s captain. The final whistle went soon after this with the visitors taking the 3 points. Thanks to our sponsors O’Neill Bros Master Joiners Ltd.
Priorians 2 Victorians 0
Player of the match was goalkeeper, Lizzie Sandbadger.

Priorians 1sts made their return to Senior 1 on Saturday past following an epic season. They welcomed recently relegated side Raphoe to St. Columb’s Park. Despite the pitch conditions being poor after a week of heavy rain the game was very fast paced and end to end with plenty of spectacle for the side line supporters.
Priorians and Raphoe are no strangers to playing each other having shared players and coaches throughout their history.
On this occasion both teams had a point to prove and neither team was going to back down. Priorians had push back but lost possession quickly allowing Raphoe to enter the circle but they did not get any shot on goal. It was then Sarah Black’s turn for Prior to access the opposition’s circle, passing to Emma Allen whose shot on target was saved. The home side were then on the back foot again conceding a penalty corner. The experienced defence dealt with this courageously denying Raphoe any score. The ball was pushed forward out of danger and Emma Allen took her chance again to put Raphoe under pressure but no joy this time.
The score at half time remained 0-0.
The second half as just a fast paced and both teams were quick to switch the ball from side to side and attack. Prior did tire a little giving away possession putting themselves under pressure from Raphoe but the team pulled together to clear the ball and Prior’s goalkeeper had to make some timely saves.
Prior dug deep and found some last energy in the dying minutes of the game with Grace Hand penetrating the circle to try for a goal. Alas it wasn’t to be. The game ended in a draw giving both teams their first point in their new league.
Priorians fans and sponsors O’Neill Master Joiners enjoyed the standard of hockey played.
Player of the match was Captain, Kristel Brown.
Priorians are hoping to pick up the first win of the new season when they head to Belfast this weekend to play Victorians at Deramore Park.